50 Book Challenge: Get out of the house goddamnit! Get the newspaper!
What can I say except that this book reads like a movie. And when I did search for more information about this book, I found out that there is indeed a movie in the makings and Zach Galifinakis and Amy Adams will be playing the main characters. The funny thing was, when I was reading this book on a lazy Sunday morning in the comfort of my bed, I imagined Zach as Jack Madigan, son of the famous, turtle-eating rockstar Baz Madigan. (Or maybe it’s because I just finished watching It’s Kind of a Funny Story the night before). Jack is an agoraphobic. He can’t even step out of his porch to fetch his newspaper. So how does he live? Well, there’s his dead father’s royalties and his son with an eccentric fashion sense, Harlan.
But then, life forces Jack to finally step out of his house and his shell. The bank is foreclosing and his house is on the verge of being taken away from him. Also, his ex-wife does not only gets married again but also threatens to lure away his son with promises of a laid-back life in California. Not to mention that he has two frequent, albeit unwelcome guests on his house: Dorrie Alsop, the real estate agent and Lucinda, next-door neighbor kid who is neglected by her parents.
The characters are lovable although they are flawed in their own ways. You can’t help but cheer Jack on (“Get out of the house goddamnit! Get the newspaper!”) and admire Harlan’s no-bullshit approach on fashion and life itself. Sure, this book is not heavy on aspects that make a great book when it comes to depth and structure and tone and language. But sometimes, it’s the simplest of the storyline that gets to you. How human the characters are and how they are able to rise above the problems life has thrown into them. I really wish I could read more of these kinds of books in the future.